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| Scotland delivers a simple answer to a tough question | Scotland delivers a simple answer to a tough question |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| When Alex Salmond was a young and obscure MP at Westminster in the 1980s, he had on his office wall a Radical Scotland front page quoting the veteran nationalist Tom Nairn that Scotland would not be free until the last Church of Scotland minister had been strangled with the last copy of the Sunday Post. | When Alex Salmond was a young and obscure MP at Westminster in the 1980s, he had on his office wall a Radical Scotland front page quoting the veteran nationalist Tom Nairn that Scotland would not be free until the last Church of Scotland minister had been strangled with the last copy of the Sunday Post. |
| The first minister is not looking for such a drastic outcome on Thursday as millions of Scots finally vote at the end of the two-year referendum campaign. If the yes campaigners triumph, it will be the fulfilment of a dream Salmond has had since his teenage days: Scotland will become an independent country once again and the union will be no more. | The first minister is not looking for such a drastic outcome on Thursday as millions of Scots finally vote at the end of the two-year referendum campaign. If the yes campaigners triumph, it will be the fulfilment of a dream Salmond has had since his teenage days: Scotland will become an independent country once again and the union will be no more. |
| "Harold Wilson said only one vote is enough in a referendum. There has been a significant movement to yes," Salmond told the Guardian during his last campaign push, flying round Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and the Highlands in a helicopter. "I am totally confident we will win. This is a once in a generation opportunity, a once in a lifetime opportunity." | "Harold Wilson said only one vote is enough in a referendum. There has been a significant movement to yes," Salmond told the Guardian during his last campaign push, flying round Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and the Highlands in a helicopter. "I am totally confident we will win. This is a once in a generation opportunity, a once in a lifetime opportunity." |
| Being driven by car between two Ayrshire campaign stops, wearing a brass yes badge on his lapel and wearing a tie criss-crossed with saltires, he seemed relaxed and confident, waving his arms about to emphasise political points. | Being driven by car between two Ayrshire campaign stops, wearing a brass yes badge on his lapel and wearing a tie criss-crossed with saltires, he seemed relaxed and confident, waving his arms about to emphasise political points. |
| But the emotion of the moment is getting to him. At one point his eyes became moist as he recalled a friend who died of cancer earlier this year – an advocate of nursery care provision, one of the policies he said he wanted to implement. | But the emotion of the moment is getting to him. At one point his eyes became moist as he recalled a friend who died of cancer earlier this year – an advocate of nursery care provision, one of the policies he said he wanted to implement. |
| As a reporter following evidence on the streets alone, it appears hard to escape the conclusion that a vote for yes is inevitable. Windows are awash with yes posters, with no ones rare (scared maybe of having their windows broken). | As a reporter following evidence on the streets alone, it appears hard to escape the conclusion that a vote for yes is inevitable. Windows are awash with yes posters, with no ones rare (scared maybe of having their windows broken). |
| Yes campaigners are out in force too on the streets, again with many fewer no volunteers visible. But seasoned Scottish political observers – journalists as well as Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat members – caution that the silent majority is likely to be heard on Thursday, and people who have been swithering will be swayed on the day by arguments about currency, pensions and other issues. The polls suggest no has a lead of between two or four percentage points. | Yes campaigners are out in force too on the streets, again with many fewer no volunteers visible. But seasoned Scottish political observers – journalists as well as Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat members – caution that the silent majority is likely to be heard on Thursday, and people who have been swithering will be swayed on the day by arguments about currency, pensions and other issues. The polls suggest no has a lead of between two or four percentage points. |
| It is hard for a Scot not to be proud of the way they have conducted themselves throughout the campaign, the passion with which they have embraced debate. An estimated 97% out of more than 4 million people have registered to vote. There have been nasty incidents: intimidation, spitting and occasional fights. But on the whole it has been peaceful and passionate. | It is hard for a Scot not to be proud of the way they have conducted themselves throughout the campaign, the passion with which they have embraced debate. An estimated 97% out of more than 4 million people have registered to vote. There have been nasty incidents: intimidation, spitting and occasional fights. But on the whole it has been peaceful and passionate. |
| In Edinburgh last week, were two men, both wearing saltires as cloaks, standing toe-to-toe having a heated argument about the future of the working-class in an independent Scotland. About 100 metres away a group of teenagers could be overheard discussing the posture of Alistair Darling, leader of the Better Together no campaign, in the last debate with Salmond. | In Edinburgh last week, were two men, both wearing saltires as cloaks, standing toe-to-toe having a heated argument about the future of the working-class in an independent Scotland. About 100 metres away a group of teenagers could be overheard discussing the posture of Alistair Darling, leader of the Better Together no campaign, in the last debate with Salmond. |
| It has been a well-informed debate, too. "A woman asking about a point on page 621 of a document," Salmond said. "This has been a festival of democracy, one that has probably never been seen in western Europe for a generation." | It has been a well-informed debate, too. "A woman asking about a point on page 621 of a document," Salmond said. "This has been a festival of democracy, one that has probably never been seen in western Europe for a generation." |
| With the campaigning over, now it will all be down to volunteers throughout Scotland from both camps getting their voters out before the polls close at 10pm. | With the campaigning over, now it will all be down to volunteers throughout Scotland from both camps getting their voters out before the polls close at 10pm. |
| Salmond will spend Thursday at home with his wife, Moira, in Striche, Aberdeenshire, then go to the count in Aberdeen before flying to the count in Edinburgh early on Friday. If Salmond has triumphed, he will set in train a process that will see Scotland independent in 2016. | Salmond will spend Thursday at home with his wife, Moira, in Striche, Aberdeenshire, then go to the count in Aberdeen before flying to the count in Edinburgh early on Friday. If Salmond has triumphed, he will set in train a process that will see Scotland independent in 2016. |
| One of the busiest campaign offices in Scotland is the Yes Provan headquarters, just off Duke Street, in Glasgow's East End. | One of the busiest campaign offices in Scotland is the Yes Provan headquarters, just off Duke Street, in Glasgow's East End. |
| The Scottish National party has learned one of the main lessons from Barack Obama's 2008 election victory: the need to build a grassroots movement, creating lots of individual organisations such as Africans for Independence or Women for Independence or even the 500-strong Cabbies for Independence, all eventually building into one network. | The Scottish National party has learned one of the main lessons from Barack Obama's 2008 election victory: the need to build a grassroots movement, creating lots of individual organisations such as Africans for Independence or Women for Independence or even the 500-strong Cabbies for Independence, all eventually building into one network. |
| Yes campaigners have been exchanging plans on Facebook and other social media for post-result gatherings. The pubs have been given licence extensions late into the night. Win or lose, lots of Glaswegian yes campaigners are heading for George Square in the city centre on Friday. | Yes campaigners have been exchanging plans on Facebook and other social media for post-result gatherings. The pubs have been given licence extensions late into the night. Win or lose, lots of Glaswegian yes campaigners are heading for George Square in the city centre on Friday. |
| Politicians such as the former Labour MP and now Respect MP, George Galloway, a target for hardline yes supporters because of his high-profile "Just Say Naw" tour, expressed worry about what he described as those who might "not go quietly into the night". But many yes campaigners sound as if they will be deeply disappointed, rather than angry, if they were to lose. | Politicians such as the former Labour MP and now Respect MP, George Galloway, a target for hardline yes supporters because of his high-profile "Just Say Naw" tour, expressed worry about what he described as those who might "not go quietly into the night". But many yes campaigners sound as if they will be deeply disappointed, rather than angry, if they were to lose. |
| One of the co-ordinators of Yes Provan, Anne McLaughlin, a former SNP member of the Scottish parliament, has been putting in long hours and is not going to George Square. "I will probably just crash," she said. She is planning to have a party in a local snooker hall on the Friday night for campaign helpers. | |
| One of her colleagues, Martin Monaghan, founder of Cabbies for Independence, said: "If it is a no vote, I will go into hiding for a month." | One of her colleagues, Martin Monaghan, founder of Cabbies for Independence, said: "If it is a no vote, I will go into hiding for a month." |
| After the 1979 failed referendum campaign, supporters of independence and devolution went into a great sulk and more or less refused to speak about constitutional issues for most of the following decade. | After the 1979 failed referendum campaign, supporters of independence and devolution went into a great sulk and more or less refused to speak about constitutional issues for most of the following decade. |
| But much more is at stake this time and feelings are running much higher. The issue is not going away, not with the SNP still in charge of the Scottish parliament, not with a generation of young campaigners radicalised by the events of the last two years. | But much more is at stake this time and feelings are running much higher. The issue is not going away, not with the SNP still in charge of the Scottish parliament, not with a generation of young campaigners radicalised by the events of the last two years. |
| The campaign has changed Scotland for good. | The campaign has changed Scotland for good. |
| The Church of Scotland is to hold a service of reconciliation at St Giles' Cathedral in the historic heart of Edinburgh on Sunday. The moderator of the Church of Scotland hopes to make a start on mending the rift between yes and no. Salmond has not decided yet whether he will go but one of his cabinet colleagues will attend, John Swinney. | The Church of Scotland is to hold a service of reconciliation at St Giles' Cathedral in the historic heart of Edinburgh on Sunday. The moderator of the Church of Scotland hopes to make a start on mending the rift between yes and no. Salmond has not decided yet whether he will go but one of his cabinet colleagues will attend, John Swinney. |
| St Giles' has seen strong Scots women before: Jenny Geddes, in a burst of presbyterian fervour, threw a stool at the minister in the 17th century for daring to introduce an Anglican-tinged prayer book. The moderator could do worse than invite another strong woman to speak on Sunday, Caroline McGhee, who knows about hurt and reconciliation. | St Giles' has seen strong Scots women before: Jenny Geddes, in a burst of presbyterian fervour, threw a stool at the minister in the 17th century for daring to introduce an Anglican-tinged prayer book. The moderator could do worse than invite another strong woman to speak on Sunday, Caroline McGhee, who knows about hurt and reconciliation. |
| Aged 28, McGhee is not having an easy life: she works four days a week in sales, studies one night a week on a counselling course, is bringing up her son and is the victim of domestic violence – a case heard in Glasgow high court this year. She was initially a no voter but changed to yes, saying she did not like being condescended to by Westminster politicians and did not believe for a minute that independence would amount to a return to the dark ages. | Aged 28, McGhee is not having an easy life: she works four days a week in sales, studies one night a week on a counselling course, is bringing up her son and is the victim of domestic violence – a case heard in Glasgow high court this year. She was initially a no voter but changed to yes, saying she did not like being condescended to by Westminster politicians and did not believe for a minute that independence would amount to a return to the dark ages. |
| Standing in the middle of Easterhouse on Tuesday with a can of Irn-Bru and a bag of groceries, outside the Blaze tanning studio – "100 minutes for £30" – she expressed a strong distaste for what she described as the ugly side of the referendum campaign: politicians and supporters shouting over one another, the cyber bullying, the intolerance and the occasional vague hint of violence. | Standing in the middle of Easterhouse on Tuesday with a can of Irn-Bru and a bag of groceries, outside the Blaze tanning studio – "100 minutes for £30" – she expressed a strong distaste for what she described as the ugly side of the referendum campaign: politicians and supporters shouting over one another, the cyber bullying, the intolerance and the occasional vague hint of violence. |
| Although she is determined to vote for independence on Thursday, she blamed both sides for the ugliness. In a dismissal of all of them, she said: "I refuse to be ugly. I have seen enough of it in my own life. I will drown my sorrow if it is a no and party if it is a yes … I have a wee bottle of cheap wine in the fridge if it is a yes. I will go down and celebrate with my mum." | Although she is determined to vote for independence on Thursday, she blamed both sides for the ugliness. In a dismissal of all of them, she said: "I refuse to be ugly. I have seen enough of it in my own life. I will drown my sorrow if it is a no and party if it is a yes … I have a wee bottle of cheap wine in the fridge if it is a yes. I will go down and celebrate with my mum." |
| That should be the spirit of modern Scotland. | That should be the spirit of modern Scotland. |
| One of the most powerful speakers in favour of the union has been the former Labour MP Brian Wilson. At a 1,000-strong rally in Glasgow on Monday night, he and Galloway – unlikely soul mates, part of what Wilson called the "Radical Branch of Saga Holidays" – were barracked almost continuously by yes campaigners. | One of the most powerful speakers in favour of the union has been the former Labour MP Brian Wilson. At a 1,000-strong rally in Glasgow on Monday night, he and Galloway – unlikely soul mates, part of what Wilson called the "Radical Branch of Saga Holidays" – were barracked almost continuously by yes campaigners. |
| But Wilson, reiterating arguments he made in the 1979 referendum campaign – one of the yes campaigners said she had one of the original badges to remind her of the pain – said that working-class people throughout Britain, not just Scotland, should be what politics was about. "Politics should be about the haves and have-nots. The tragedy is that constitutional issues have overshadowed this. It has been suborned to the issue of identity," Wilson said. | But Wilson, reiterating arguments he made in the 1979 referendum campaign – one of the yes campaigners said she had one of the original badges to remind her of the pain – said that working-class people throughout Britain, not just Scotland, should be what politics was about. "Politics should be about the haves and have-nots. The tragedy is that constitutional issues have overshadowed this. It has been suborned to the issue of identity," Wilson said. |
| The referendum campaign has been about national identity, about culture, about the viability of small countries. But, at a more visceral level, it has also been about power, about the steady decline of the Scottish Labour party, the party that in the 1980s could boast of John Smith, Robin Cook, Gordon Brown, and a 1987 intake into Westminster that included Alistair Darling, Wilson, Galloway and Sam Galbraith – and the rise of the SNP. | The referendum campaign has been about national identity, about culture, about the viability of small countries. But, at a more visceral level, it has also been about power, about the steady decline of the Scottish Labour party, the party that in the 1980s could boast of John Smith, Robin Cook, Gordon Brown, and a 1987 intake into Westminster that included Alistair Darling, Wilson, Galloway and Sam Galbraith – and the rise of the SNP. |
| The funeral of Galbraith, a neurosurgeon before becoming a politician, was held last month, about the time that the referendum campaign formally started. It was a nostalgic occasion. Memories of a brain surgeon from working-class Greenock, who on his daily journey to Glasgow University wondered why he and not them had the chance of a university education; a man who went out marching on dreich Saturdays in Glasgow in support of the National Health Service. | The funeral of Galbraith, a neurosurgeon before becoming a politician, was held last month, about the time that the referendum campaign formally started. It was a nostalgic occasion. Memories of a brain surgeon from working-class Greenock, who on his daily journey to Glasgow University wondered why he and not them had the chance of a university education; a man who went out marching on dreich Saturdays in Glasgow in support of the National Health Service. |
| The thanksgiving service was a reminder of an older and inspirational Scottish Labour party: Galbraith, even as a young surgeon, had in his flat only a camp bed, a bust of Marx and, after the intervention of his girlfriend and eventual wife Nicola, a toaster. | The thanksgiving service was a reminder of an older and inspirational Scottish Labour party: Galbraith, even as a young surgeon, had in his flat only a camp bed, a bust of Marx and, after the intervention of his girlfriend and eventual wife Nicola, a toaster. |
| Galbraith was opposed to independence, seeing the best hope for maintenance of the NHS. | Galbraith was opposed to independence, seeing the best hope for maintenance of the NHS. |
| One of my school teachers in Glasgow, David Brennan, who taught history and modern studies, was a member of that Labour party until the start of the new century. When he was younger, he was sceptical about nationalism, regularly teaching the causes of the first world war and regarding nationalism as the last refuge of scoundrels. | One of my school teachers in Glasgow, David Brennan, who taught history and modern studies, was a member of that Labour party until the start of the new century. When he was younger, he was sceptical about nationalism, regularly teaching the causes of the first world war and regarding nationalism as the last refuge of scoundrels. |
| But he will vote for independence: "Tony Blair finished the Labour party as far as I was concerned," Brennan said. It seems the only hope for a progressive society was to build one here rather than a UK-nationwide socialism. "There has been a betrayal of the social compact of the postwar government. It is much more likely to survive up here." | But he will vote for independence: "Tony Blair finished the Labour party as far as I was concerned," Brennan said. It seems the only hope for a progressive society was to build one here rather than a UK-nationwide socialism. "There has been a betrayal of the social compact of the postwar government. It is much more likely to survive up here." |
| There has been a lot of imaginative campaigning. On Skye, the head of Clan MacLeod, Hugh MacLeod, wrote to staff on his estate in a two-page letter setting out his reasons for voting no, marked as a confidential memo to staff. | There has been a lot of imaginative campaigning. On Skye, the head of Clan MacLeod, Hugh MacLeod, wrote to staff on his estate in a two-page letter setting out his reasons for voting no, marked as a confidential memo to staff. |
| "Of course how you intend to vote is entirely a matter for you but as your employer I feel I have a duty to share some of my personal thoughts and concerns with you," he said, seemingly oblivious to still-strong memories of days when people doffed a cap to the landlord. | "Of course how you intend to vote is entirely a matter for you but as your employer I feel I have a duty to share some of my personal thoughts and concerns with you," he said, seemingly oblivious to still-strong memories of days when people doffed a cap to the landlord. |
| Not connected to the letter but nevertheless making a point, yes campaigners moored a yacht with yes logos plastered with yes logos by his castle, Dunvegan. | Not connected to the letter but nevertheless making a point, yes campaigners moored a yacht with yes logos plastered with yes logos by his castle, Dunvegan. |
| Salmond said if the referendum was a no, he would not hold another. But he acknowledged that this pledge did not apply to his successors. He might retire in 2016 and they would be free to have another go. Assuming they lose on Thursday. | Salmond said if the referendum was a no, he would not hold another. But he acknowledged that this pledge did not apply to his successors. He might retire in 2016 and they would be free to have another go. Assuming they lose on Thursday. |